Rhine Cruise, Lorelei, Marksburg Castle, Brühl

Hello all! Sorry for the lack of posting for the last week, its been hectic. Over the last week we have seen more beautiful churches, went on a Rhine cruise, and I even found my dream princess castle!

On Saturday we went on a Rhine cruise. Unfortunately, we went on a day that was bitterly cold! However, we were also somewhat lucky with our timing; a lot of rain in the Alps caused a massive flood on the Rhine; where we were standing on Saturday was completely under water on Sunday!

This is a middle ages toll both! Back then, in order to cross you had to pay a toll to this castle.

The Lorelei Cliff:it represents the narrowest part of the Rhine and has a very sharp turn, because of this it has seen many shipwrecks! Legend has it that Lorelei, a female siren, sings on the rocks to distract the sailors, causing them to wreck. Consequently, there is a song Lorelei song that the Rhine cruisers sing when crossing her path!

After the cruise and schnitzel for lunch, we headed to the Marksburg castle. I had been blissfully unaware all morning that I was about to hike a mountain- in my boat shoes and let's just say.... "dehydrated." So that was a little rough. However the view from the top was absolutely beautiful and totally worth it!

On Tuesday, we headed to Brühl and I found my princess castle! The Augustusburg Castle is gorgeous! Sadly, I was not allowed to take pictures from the inside however you can head to their website to see why I fell in love with it: http://www.schlossbruehl.de/Home . The the walls were all marble, the ceiling was beautifully painted, and the garden in the back was huge.

A couple other things we did this week:
We went to a club for the first time, it was... interesting. Kids 16-18 must have parents' permission slips in order to stay at the club until 12.
On Wednesday we went to Mainz (sorry no pictures) and toured a couple of churches.
It was my host sisters birthday yesterday, so there was a big party for her, which was tons of fun! 

Currently, I am on the train to PARIS to see my friend Samantha. I love this huge train network! However, when they go super fast while next to another train, I get a wii bit nervous. But other than that I like it. More info on my trip to Paris next time!

Tschüss, or I guess, Au